Helen v Pfaff (1914 - 1971)

Refresh this page to see various historical events that occurred during Helen's lifetime.

In 1914, in the year that Helen v Pfaff was born, in only his second big-screen appearance, Charlie Chaplin played the Little Tramp, his most famous character. The silent film was made in January and released the following year. Of the character, Chaplin said: "On the way to the wardrobe I thought I would dress in baggy pants, big shoes, a cane and a derby hat. I wanted everything a contradiction: the pants baggy, the coat tight, the hat small and the shoes large." The moustache was added to age his 24-year-old face without masking his expressions.

In 1920, by the time she was just 6 years old, on November 2, radio station KDKA began broadcasting in Pittsburgh, PA. This was the first commercial radio broadcast in the United States. Westinghouse, a leading manufacturer of radios and the backer of the station, chose the date because of the Presidential election. People liked it because they could hear about the results of the election between Harding and Cox before the morning papers arrived. Four years later, there were 600 commercial stations broadcasting in the U.S.

In 1934, Helen was 20 years old when on July 22nd, gangster John Dillinger was killed in Chicago. His gang had robbed banks and police stations, among other charges, and he was being hunted by J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI - although many in the public saw him as a "Robin Hood". A madam from a brothel in which he was hiding became an informer for the FBI and, after a shootout with FBI agents, Dillinger was shot and died.

In 1945, at the age of 31 years old, Helen was alive when on April 12th, President Franklin D. Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia. At 1p, he was sitting for a portrait when he complained that he had a "terrific pain" in the back of his head and collapsed. A doctor was summoned and the doctor gave him a shot of adrenaline into his heart. It didn't help and he was pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m. A slow moving train took him back to Washington D.C. while thousands of mourners lined the tracks. He was buried at his home in Hyde Park, New York.

In 1971, in the year of Helen v Pfaff's passing, on May 3rd, 10,000 federal troops, 5,100 officers of the D.C. Metropolitan Police, 2,000 members of the D.C. National Guard, and federal agents assembled in Washington DC to prevent an estimated 10,000 Vietnam War protesters from marching. President Nixon (who was in California) refused to give federal employees the day off and they had to navigate the police and protesters, adding to the confusion. By the end of a few days of protest, 12,614 people had been arrested - making it the largest mass arrest in US history.